Museums Show Off Their Creepiest Objects in Twitter Battle

Historical items can often seem downright frightening, and a group of museums worldwide has proven that in a Twitter battle involving the creepiest objects from their collections. Far beyond the reaches of fictional horror, these museum finds show that real-life creations can sometimes be creepier than scary stories.

Spooky dolls, mummified "mermaids" and plague doctor masks were just a few of the items displayed in the thread started by England's Yorkshire Museum last week (April 17). The institution kicked off the "curator battle" for the creepiest object with a hair bun kept from the burial of an ancient Roman lady.

Check all that out — and more — down toward the bottom of this post.

Indeed, the Yorkshire Museum's challenge to beat their creepy object didn't disappoint. Places like the German Historical Museum, the Museum of Fear and Wonder and the Center of Ceramic Art responded in kind.

That left a whole lot of spine-chilling wonders on display for Twitter users. But perhaps the creepiest part of the curator challenge was thinking about what other scary objects lie in wait behind those museum walls.

As pointed out by CNN, the Twitter battle for the creepiest object among the galleries had arisen out of the ongoing public health crisis concerning the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With many public institutions shut down to foot traffic, museums have taken some of their enthralling wares online.

Ready to get creeped out by some spooky items from the depths of time? Just take a look below.